Paperny T.A..M… (Паперный Т.А..М…) is a Russian music group that was founded in Moscow shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its leader is Aleksey Mikhailovich Paperniy (Алексей Михайлович Паперный; the T.A..M… stands for “fellowship of actors and musicians” (товарищество актёров и музыкантов), though information about the strange system of periods/ellipses is not forthcoming. […]

Perfect is a Polish rock band founded in 1977. It was fantastically popular in its early years and has continued to enjoy success even up to the present day, despite breaking up and getting back together multiple times. The original members of the band were Wojciech Morawski (drums), Zdzislaw Zawadzki (bass guitar), Paweł Tabaka (keyboards), […]

Kalinov Most (Калинов Мост; translates as “Kalinov bridge”) is one of the most popular Soviet and Russian rock groups of all time. They were born and grew up in Siberia—Novosibirsk, to be exact. They play what can be described as folk rock, but they prefer to describe themselves by their very own adjective, “Kalinovmost-ish” (Калиновмостовский). […]

Valerii Leontiev (Валерий Леонтьев) is a Russian pop singer who has been touring, recording, and performing extensively since the 1970s. He was born in Ust-Usa, in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, but grew up in Arkhangelsk oblast. He sang in his school choir and could be found in drama circles as a child. When […]

Aleksandr Bashlachev (Александр Башлачёв), nicknamed SashBash (СашБаш, for Sasha, the common nickname for Aleksandr) was a Soviet/Russian singer-songwriter, poet, and bard, a popular performer in the Soviet underground circuit. Born in Cherepovets, Vologda oblast, Bashlachev went to school and university there and initially worked in metallurgy. He later moved to Sverdlovsk to study journalism but […]

Vyacheslav Butusov (Вячеслав Бутусов) is a Russian rock singer who started during the Soviet period and has been known for many bands, among them the seminal Nautilus Pompilius (Наутилус Помпилиус), U-Piter (Ю-Питер), and his own solo work. Butusov was born in a village near Krasnoyarsk in 1961 and grew up in various cities all over […]

Zemfira (Земфира) is the stage name of Zemfira Talgatovna Ramazanova (Земфира Талгатовна Рамазанова), a Russian rock musician originally from Ufa, Bashkortostan. Zemfira has sold more than three million records over the course of her career, and continues to be popular in Russia and the former Soviet Republics. Zemfira was influenced from an early age by rock […]

The Night Snipers (Ночные снайперы) is a Russian alternative rock band originally formed in 1993. The band began as an acoustic duo consisting of Diana Arbenina (Диана Сергеевна Арбенина) on guitar and Svetlana Surganova (Светлана Яковлевна Сурганова) on violin. The Night Snipers’ songs are often poetic compositions, many of which feature the work of famous […]

Smyslovye Gallyutsinatsii (Смысловые галлюцинации) is a Russian alt-rock band from Yekaterinburg whose sound has evolved from straightforward punk rock to, in recent years, more experimental works that sound closer to post-punk or indie. The band’s name translates to “meaningful hallucinations.” Smyslovye Gallyutsinatsii formed in 1989, at the end of the Soviet period, but did not […]